Older Entrepreneurs Finding New Life In Startups

Over the past decade, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity belongs to the 55 to 64 age group, according to a study by the Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City, Mo.-based entrepreneurship institute. The 20 to 34 age bracket has the lowest rate.

“When people think startups, they think kids,” said Christian Gurney of Torsion Mobile, a year-old Des Moines tech firm. He and co-founder Richard Kirsner’s combined ages are 114, and they say it’s no liability.

“We tell clients, ‘We’ve made lot of mistakes and we’re not likely to repeat them.’ That gets chuckles, but also wry smiles,” Gurney said. “They’ve worked with the new startup sensation, a 20-something, and 50% of the time it flamed out.”